vegan recipes + plant-based living

Blood Orange Vegan Bundt Cake

March 1, 2015

This Saturday, Kevin and I left the city for the afternoon. I’ve been craving the road in some way or another. This was just a short trip down to Providence for lunch at The Grange and dessert at Wild Flour bakery. The restaurant, which calls itself a vegetable restaurant, was just the right escape from Boston that I’ve been craving and the bakery was everything that I wanted – soy cream next to almond milk, yes please! It was nice to be on the road, sun pouring through the windows, and singing like old times when we used to spend more days in the car.

Last night, we had friends over and I whipped together matcha cookies and we all snuggled on the couch to watch the Grand Budapest Hotel. It was nice to see everyone before we head out to California to visit my family on Thursday. It’s the first day of March and it’s snowing 3-6 inches tonight here in Boston, so needless to say – I’m excited to head toward warmer weather.

Confessions from a blogger: sometimes (or often) we fail. The first iteration of this recipe turned out as a complete disaster. When I’m working with egg substitutes, it takes me time to find the best ones that work with different types of baked goods. Apple sauce as an egg substitute didn’t give the lift that I was looking for. I had one of those kitchen meltdowns where you can’t look at the cake because you are frustrated by the couple hours you spent trying to put it together.

It’s in these moments that I know the kitchen tells me where my head space is at, if the little things are starting to not feel so little anymore – if i’m falling behind on being in the moment. I took a break and came back to this recipe with the lessons learned from my first failure and luckily found success, but it’s not always that way. Sometimes, a recipe refuses to cooperate for days on end, especially when I’m converting things from non-vegan to vegan. Sometimes, I can’t run because of injuries and the weather refuses to cooperate – it’s just remembering to be awake in these moments, to learn, not get too frustrated, to have patience with myself and the universe. That it will all work out, right? Everything is meant to work out.

– Blood Orange Vegan Bundt Cake –

The flavor of the season at our apartment is blood oranges. I casually slip them into water, smoothies, salads, and now cakes! Two reasons why I love blood oranges a) their sweet flavor and b) their colorful addition to my life in the dead of winter. This recipe combines the sweetness of blood oranges with the spice of ginger. If you want a list ‘spicy’ cake then feel free to halve the ginger and celebrate the blood orange.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, including flour, sugar, ground ginger, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a blender, puree the blood oranges and cashew milk until smooth.

Mix the wet ingredients thoroughly in a medium-sized bowl, including water, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, and 3/4 of blood orange mixture. Reserve 1/4 for icing. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Once totally combined, place in an oven and bake for 50-55 minutes.

While the cake is baking, mix together powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and blood orange mixture to prepare the frosting. Once the cake is done baking, cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely before icing. Dust with powdered sugar & drizzle with icing.